"Cases in which prosecutors have signaled interest in the Apple tool, or one like it, continue to pile up. In Manhattan, for instance, the district attorney’s office says it holds 205 encrypted iPhones that neither it nor Apple can currently unlock, up from 111 in November. Such pent-up demand for the tool spells danger, said Andrea Matwyshyn, a professor of law and computer science at Northeastern University, since its widespread dissemination presents a clear threat to the security of innocent iPhone users.
“That’s when people get uncomfortable with a potentially unlimited number of people being able to use this in a potentially unlimited number of cases,” Matwyshyn said.
Then there’s court, where defense experts would want a close look at the tool to ensure that it wasn’t tainting evidence, said Jeffrey Vagle, a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. “It could get quite tangled from a technical standpoint,” he said."
- Date Published:03/19/2016
- Original Publication:SF Gate